Cooperstown has a moral standard

Friday

Jan 11, 2013 at 2:00 AM

The sportswriters who choose members of the Baseball Hall of Fame voted this year to make official what has been unofficial but obvious for a while. There are two measures of excellence at the highest level of this sport, one that accepts the statistical evidence and one that applies a moral standard.

The sportswriters who choose members of the Baseball Hall of Fame voted this year to make official what has been unofficial but obvious for a while. There are two measures of excellence at the highest level of this sport, one that accepts the statistical evidence and one that applies a moral standard.

That has been evident ever since Pete Rose was banned for life for gambling and thus was not eligible to have his likeness and his achievements memorialized on the famous bronze plaque. But he is very much in the other parts of the Hall of Fame. He holds dozens of records, and those achievements are forever part of the game's history.

By rejecting several applicants this year, players who also have the stats that command attention but who are suspected of cheating by using drugs, the writers have said, in effect, we will perpetuate these two standards. Instead of being a cause for concern and a reason to change the voting procedures, the Hall and the sport should embrace this.

Visitors to Cooperstown now will be forever reminded that no matter how well you play, you will pay a price for cheating whether that involved gambling or drugs. Not a bad message for America's pastime to send.

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